Allison Littlejohn, Eileen Kennedy, Martin Oliver (contributions from Lesley Gourlay, Tim Neumann, Kit Logan, Jennifer A. Rode, John Potter; UCL IOE Culture, Communication and Media)
10 minute talk
In this presentation we examine the challenges posed by the technological mediation of student-teacher and student-student interaction while teaching online during Covid19. The UCL Moving to Online Teaching and Homeworking study traced the experiences of UCL staff March-August 2020 working under lockdown conditions (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/centres/ucl-knowledge-lab/research/ucl-moving-online-teaching-and-homeworking-moth). Most academics used synchronous videoconferencing tools to connect with students. Some teaching staff evolved a repertoire of techniques to create a sense of social presence with students. However, a persistent challenge was enabling interaction between staff and students in ways that supported effective, caring pedagogies. In this presentation, we discuss the use of technologies to support connections and presence. We will pose questions around the reasons why some academics chose to teach synchronously (immediate) rather than asynchronously (over time) and will discuss challenges and opportunities for developing practice in ways that engender interaction and caring pedagogies.